


where we belong

by grains_of_saturn



Category: Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 13:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18572017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grains_of_saturn/pseuds/grains_of_saturn
Summary: Kazusa and Tonberry return to Concordia.





	where we belong

**Author's Note:**

> For the fandomweekly prompt "unexpected company".

Following the Rursan attack upon Orience, the priorities of those who survived changed dramatically - their focus now to survive, to rebuild, to form bonds strong enough to overcome everything that had broken. With the memories, now, of what they had lost in all their years of conflict, the countries took steps to come together at last, to lend aid and support wherever possible.

It sounded good when put like that, at least. If asked, Kazusa wasn't sure he could have come up with any other explanation as for why he was so eager (if ' _eager_ ' was the appropriate word) to leave Akademeia, whenever the opportunity arose. It was easier to make it sound more noble than it was, but in truth? Even now, with the danger having passed, there was still something about those walls, that building, that felt... claustrophobic, somehow. Stifling, in a way that Kazusa had never felt before. He wasn't sure that it felt _good_ to leave on those aid missions, but it at least felt better than sitting around otherwise.

(It had been a few days after _everything_ that he had heard the knock on his door - quiet, almost imperceptible, but _there_. He'd called for whoever it was to enter; nothing had happened. He'd gone to the door and opened it to find nobody there, at first - but on looking down, had seen the Tonberry stood there, staring silently up at him. Akademeia's resident Tonberry.

 _Kurasame's Tonberry_.

The Tonberry had little way of communicating, but Kazusa knew there could be only one reason for this visit. He'd sighed, then, and dropped to a crouch. " _You remember, don't you?_ ")

In the time that had followed, Kazusa had found it hard to know how to react to the small creature. Obviously, he had had quite the strong bond with Kurasame, but such a thing was unusual. He recalled seeing the two of them together - Kurasame smiling and laughing, and that Tonberry seeming to communicate some sense of feeling comfortable in his presence. They were a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, too - or so Kazusa had heard. Practically the only thing anybody knew of Tonberries was their slow and steady nature combined with a terrifying capability for violence; any human that could curb that, tame it, or at least work alongside it was surely an exception indeed.

How did you talk to a Tonberry? Kazusa had never been particularly open to the idea of keeping pets. _Are you a pet?_ He seemed content to sit in Kazusa's laboratory, but that was as much as Kazusa himself could glean. He would arrive, each morning, and he would sit. Kazusa presumed he was being watched. What else could he do? It was somewhat unnerving. _What do you eat? Where do you sleep?_ Kazusa would glance across to where the Tonberry was still just _looking_ at him.

_What do you want?_

 

\-----

 

That aid was being sent to Amiter was something of a surprise, given its remote location; Kazusa had agreed to go, as he had on many of these missions - but this time with a particular purpose. If nothing else, Tonberry seemed quite docile in his presence - willing enough to accompany him, to sit quietly during the journey, to lend what small aid he could.

The weather was pleasant as they landed, the sun doing its best to lend some cheer to another damaged settlement of the previous conflict. Kazusa walked into the town alongside Tonberry, still unsure how quite to speak to him.

"This is... your home, isn't it? I heard tell of a colony of Tonberry living here. This is where you first met with Kurasame, isn't it?"

A small nod.

"I thought--... you might like to come back here. Given everything that's happened. There must be others like you here still, so..." Kazusa bit his lip, unsure how to put his feelings to words (or if the Tonberry could even really understand what he was saying). "I'm sure this place is far more suitable for you than my laboratory. Should you wish to remain here... I'd understand."

Tonberry only stared at him, and then waddled off towards the town center. Kazusa watched until he was gone from sight; _this is, surely, for the best_.

 

\-----

 

The supplies had been delivered and the transport back to Rubrum was ready; over the days he'd spent at Amiter, Kazusa had seen the Tonberries of the town around - always keeping out of the way of humans, but there, present, _surviving_. Kazusa was glad to see that that was the case; _you belong here, don't you? You followed Kurasame, but that was--..._

(As charismatic and steadfast as Kurasame had been, it was easy to see how anybody - human or Tonberry - could feel that way. Kazusa felt no stranger to that himself.)

Kazusa knew he couldn't allow himself to get too wrapped up in sentiment or nostalgia; the world had little space for that, now. He turned his back on Amiter's wide paths, and was about to make his way to the waiting transport, when a small tug of the fabric at his ankle gave him reason to pause.

"Hm?"

He glanced down; still clad in his crimson cape, it was Tonberry. Still wordlessly staring up at him.

"... I'm going back to Rubrum, now." (A nod.) "But this is where you belong... is it not? Don't you want to stay here?" Tonberry shuffled forward, grabbing at Kazusa's trouser leg once more. Kazusa sighed, then bent down to pick him up, holding him at arm's length. "... You're surprisingly heavy, you do know that?... Look. I don't... know what to do with you. I barely know what to do with myself, most days. You'd really rather be at Akademeia than here?" (Nod.) "With me?" (Nod.) "Well... I suppose--... even if I were to perform experiments on you?"

At that, Tonberry's expression seemed, somehow, to change to one of trepidation. Kazusa couldn't hold back a laugh.

"I'm joking. ...Mostly. If that is truly your decision, then I suspect there is little I can do to change your mind." He placed Tonberry back on the ground. He made to walk towards the transport, but Tonberry stopped, just for a moment, looking back at the town behind them.

"We can visit here, still. Just like we are now...! They'll be waiting for you."

Another nod, and then Tonberry toddled off towards the transport, any hesitation now gone. Kazusa sighed once more, but with a smile; _this is your choice, after all. Who am I to tell you what to do?_

(He followed, then, supposing that care of a Tonberry was just another thing to add to his list of research topics.)


End file.
